NASA awards more operational manned missions to SpaceX and Boeing
NASA today awarded four more operational manned missions to SpaceX and Boeing, bringing their total planned flights now to six each, not counting their first demonstration mission.
The additional flights will allow the commercial partners to plan for all aspects of these missions while fulfilling space station transportation needs. The awards do not include payments at this time. “Awarding these missions now will provide greater stability for the future space station crew rotation schedule, as well as reduce schedule and financial uncertainty for our providers,” said Phil McAlister, director, NASA’s Commercial Spaceflight Development Division.
NASA essentially has no choice. These spacecraft will be the only way to get astronauts to ISS after 2018, when our contract with the Russians expires.
Moreover, by awarding these contracts now, before the end of the Obama administration, NASA essentially locks them down before the new Trump administration can take power and kill them.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
NASA today awarded four more operational manned missions to SpaceX and Boeing, bringing their total planned flights now to six each, not counting their first demonstration mission.
The additional flights will allow the commercial partners to plan for all aspects of these missions while fulfilling space station transportation needs. The awards do not include payments at this time. “Awarding these missions now will provide greater stability for the future space station crew rotation schedule, as well as reduce schedule and financial uncertainty for our providers,” said Phil McAlister, director, NASA’s Commercial Spaceflight Development Division.
NASA essentially has no choice. These spacecraft will be the only way to get astronauts to ISS after 2018, when our contract with the Russians expires.
Moreover, by awarding these contracts now, before the end of the Obama administration, NASA essentially locks them down before the new Trump administration can take power and kill them.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
You hint the Trump administration might want kill these missions. Doesn’t make much sense. Can you elaborate?
mpthompson: Sorry if I gave the impression that the Trump administration might want to kill these commercial missions. I personally doubt it. However, I do know how politics is done in Washington, and I am certain that the announcement of these operational contracts now was a decision by NASA management to guarantee these deals go through. Right now, they really do not know what a Trump administration might do. This helps place some certainty on their future policy and actions.
I see. Thanks for the clarification.
Trump is certainly a wild card. I sincerely hope that he and his administration may end up being the best friend commercial space may have in Washington. I guess we’ll find out in the coming months.
Fighting for commercial space against congress might’ve been the best thing Obama did. Although he did it only because it was the opposite standpoint of the neocons, it is maybe the only significant good part of his legacy that will survive his administration. He doesn’t seem to mention it in his braggings, though, because commercial space is not in line with leftist sentimentality of central government and anti-tech-that-destroys-our-environment-whatever at whom he now is looking for a job (after his 8 years of vacation).
“NASA essentially has no choice. These spacecraft will be the only way to get astronauts to ISS after 2018, when our contract with the Russians expires.”
Unquestionably true. It’s a little late to bail out now.
Of course, in a sense there *is* a choice, because there are two contractors, which gives some hedge against one of them running into serious problems. Which demonstrates the wisdom of NASA holding firm against congressional pressures to downselect to just one CCtCAP contractor.
Since this is the month for smooth transitions of power, let’s hope for a smooth transition from Russia to SpaceX and Boeing for manned flights to ISS.